Barn fire in Crays Hill as 50 tonnes of hay catch light

Firefighters from Billericay were on the scene of a large barn fire, which was burning through the night (Saturday 16 Aug 2014).

A crew remained at Doeshill Farm in Borwick Lane, Crays Hill, after a barn filled with 50 tonnes of hay caught light.

The 200sq metre barn was completely alight by the time firefighters were called, at about 9pm.

Firefighters from Basildon, Billericay and Corrigham surrounded the barn with “ground monitors”, hoses that stand on their own, to prevent the fire spreading to other buildings, the nearest of which was about 300 yards away.

The 15 firefighters went on strike for an hour at 11pm, leaving the fire to stand-in crews, before returning.

Operations were scaled back to two crews at about 3am and the fire was extinguished by about 6.45am today (Sunday 17 August 2014).

One crew remains on site this morning, turning over the smouldering remains and damping them down to prevent the fire flaring up.

An investigation will be carried out to establish the cause of the fire.